Hello all,
This forum has been helpful so far and is much appreciated. I'm hoping to get some input on my statement prior to submission. Any comments welcomed.
_____________________________________________
Great character is forged by great experiences and there are few experiences more rewarding than service to one’s country. As American citizens, we are afforded opportunities unimaginable to others around the world. The privilege of this freedom is hard fought and earned by those who serve. I am writing this letter to express my desire to become an Officer of the United States Navy and what I may offer in my service.
I have witnessed the sacrifices made by friends and family who have served, so I do not take lightly my decision to do the same. There is a cost to maintaining the freedom we presently enjoy for the generations that follow us and it is essential to do so. I see no worthy alternative to the idea that every man commands his own destiny, so I feel a duty in serving to preserve it.
In an organization as large as the United States Navy, effective leadership is critical. The most effective leaders are those who understand the objective and understand their team. They lead by example, owning the team’s shortcomings and sharing in their victories. I have been fortunate in life to have examples of these effective leaders and have worked to become one myself.
As an elected captain of my university’s swim team, I was accountable for the success of my teammates in the pool, academically, and personally. With our school in financial trouble, the swim team was one of many programs in danger of being cut from the athletic department entirely. Some factors of the situation were out of our control, but I also knew that any mistakes were likely to draw unwanted attention from school administrators.
With my coaches and co-captains, we devised a plan to ensure our team excelled in every way. My co-captains and I oversaw additional captains practices and mandatory team study hours. I was also charged with assuring compliance in our social code of conduct, maintaining team participation in fundraising and volunteer.
We ended the season with a second place finish at the conference championship meet. We completed more community service hours than any other athletic team and achieved the highest team average GPA. Though some teams were cut that Spring, my team survived as a direct result of our efforts and it is still thriving today.
After graduating in May 2015 with a B.S. in Marketing, I moved from Minnesota to Arizona to begin my career. I started working as a Customer Experience Representative for a local startup at which I am still employed today. One benefit of working for a fast growing company is that there are many learning opportunities. In a few short years, I’ve learned many lessons and skills that would serve the Navy well.
First, preparation for major events is crucial and failing to prepare can result in complete failure. In 2018 the company began rolling out a series of products that had long been in development. Our offerings grew from three to thirteen products in a period of eight months with each rollout growing in complexity. When our first step into a new product category was fundamentally flawed, we were not prepared to deal with the fallout.
An oversight at the manufacturing and quality levels resulted in the selling of structurally inadequate products to over four hundred customers in just a few weeks. We recognized the problem immediately following delivery of the first shipment, but no formal procedures existed for addressing such a wide-scale defect. The problem continued to grow until we ultimately issued a formal product recall.
Now in a position of navigating a sensitive legal situation with minimal training and no clear path to completion, problems compounded further. Stress mounted on the team as we attempted to tie together disparate threads and it was another two months before the issue was resolved. We weathered the storm and got better by doing it, but the problem took its toll on our bottom line, our reputation for quality that is a cornerstone of our company, and the wellbeing of our team. I learned how one critical failure can have rippling affects to an entire team and beyond. As a Naval Officer, I will always work to prepare my team for contingencies like these.
Though there is no substitute for preparedness, adaptability is equally important when operating in any competitive environment. There will always be unplanned circumstances that arise out of complex projects. I learned this through my role on our Amazon team, which is tasked with recreating our direct customer experience for those who purchase our products on third party platforms.
Since my employment began, we’ve increased our footprint in third-party channels from two to seven products and more than quadrupled our annual channel revenue to $80M. Customer contacts rose proportionally to sales and it soon became difficult to maintain service in the channel without diverting resources from our direct business.
My work has been focused on developing a service infrastructure for the platform to more efficiently service our customers. The implementation of new workflows and improvements to existing resources resulted in reaching a sustainable service level for the first time in over a year. Because they are scalable, these changes will be valuable as the channel continues to grow.
My current position has provided me many opportunities to learn through work on projects that would normally be outside the scope of my job. I am incredibly thankful to the company for this time, but I am also ready to continue that pace of learning in a new environment. I have always been fascinated by the vastness of the open sea and I am excited to pursue a line of work with deeper implications than “customer happiness.”
The world is changing which creates both threats and opportunities for those who pay attention. While this truth extends to the individual level, it is born of our nation’s collective strength. I recognize the importance of strong maritime capabilities in sustaining these opportunities.
Like many who aspire to military service, I am attracted to the possibility of seeing the world and the honor of service. Even more, I am drawn by the growth of overcoming hard-fought challenges. As a commissioned Officer I will take personal ownership of leading the execution of those duties assigned to me and treat them for what they are: implicit opportunity for the professional growth of my team and myself.
I am grateful for the opportunity of submitting this application and I appreciate your consideration.
This forum has been helpful so far and is much appreciated. I'm hoping to get some input on my statement prior to submission. Any comments welcomed.
_____________________________________________
Great character is forged by great experiences and there are few experiences more rewarding than service to one’s country. As American citizens, we are afforded opportunities unimaginable to others around the world. The privilege of this freedom is hard fought and earned by those who serve. I am writing this letter to express my desire to become an Officer of the United States Navy and what I may offer in my service.
I have witnessed the sacrifices made by friends and family who have served, so I do not take lightly my decision to do the same. There is a cost to maintaining the freedom we presently enjoy for the generations that follow us and it is essential to do so. I see no worthy alternative to the idea that every man commands his own destiny, so I feel a duty in serving to preserve it.
In an organization as large as the United States Navy, effective leadership is critical. The most effective leaders are those who understand the objective and understand their team. They lead by example, owning the team’s shortcomings and sharing in their victories. I have been fortunate in life to have examples of these effective leaders and have worked to become one myself.
As an elected captain of my university’s swim team, I was accountable for the success of my teammates in the pool, academically, and personally. With our school in financial trouble, the swim team was one of many programs in danger of being cut from the athletic department entirely. Some factors of the situation were out of our control, but I also knew that any mistakes were likely to draw unwanted attention from school administrators.
With my coaches and co-captains, we devised a plan to ensure our team excelled in every way. My co-captains and I oversaw additional captains practices and mandatory team study hours. I was also charged with assuring compliance in our social code of conduct, maintaining team participation in fundraising and volunteer.
We ended the season with a second place finish at the conference championship meet. We completed more community service hours than any other athletic team and achieved the highest team average GPA. Though some teams were cut that Spring, my team survived as a direct result of our efforts and it is still thriving today.
After graduating in May 2015 with a B.S. in Marketing, I moved from Minnesota to Arizona to begin my career. I started working as a Customer Experience Representative for a local startup at which I am still employed today. One benefit of working for a fast growing company is that there are many learning opportunities. In a few short years, I’ve learned many lessons and skills that would serve the Navy well.
First, preparation for major events is crucial and failing to prepare can result in complete failure. In 2018 the company began rolling out a series of products that had long been in development. Our offerings grew from three to thirteen products in a period of eight months with each rollout growing in complexity. When our first step into a new product category was fundamentally flawed, we were not prepared to deal with the fallout.
An oversight at the manufacturing and quality levels resulted in the selling of structurally inadequate products to over four hundred customers in just a few weeks. We recognized the problem immediately following delivery of the first shipment, but no formal procedures existed for addressing such a wide-scale defect. The problem continued to grow until we ultimately issued a formal product recall.
Now in a position of navigating a sensitive legal situation with minimal training and no clear path to completion, problems compounded further. Stress mounted on the team as we attempted to tie together disparate threads and it was another two months before the issue was resolved. We weathered the storm and got better by doing it, but the problem took its toll on our bottom line, our reputation for quality that is a cornerstone of our company, and the wellbeing of our team. I learned how one critical failure can have rippling affects to an entire team and beyond. As a Naval Officer, I will always work to prepare my team for contingencies like these.
Though there is no substitute for preparedness, adaptability is equally important when operating in any competitive environment. There will always be unplanned circumstances that arise out of complex projects. I learned this through my role on our Amazon team, which is tasked with recreating our direct customer experience for those who purchase our products on third party platforms.
Since my employment began, we’ve increased our footprint in third-party channels from two to seven products and more than quadrupled our annual channel revenue to $80M. Customer contacts rose proportionally to sales and it soon became difficult to maintain service in the channel without diverting resources from our direct business.
My work has been focused on developing a service infrastructure for the platform to more efficiently service our customers. The implementation of new workflows and improvements to existing resources resulted in reaching a sustainable service level for the first time in over a year. Because they are scalable, these changes will be valuable as the channel continues to grow.
My current position has provided me many opportunities to learn through work on projects that would normally be outside the scope of my job. I am incredibly thankful to the company for this time, but I am also ready to continue that pace of learning in a new environment. I have always been fascinated by the vastness of the open sea and I am excited to pursue a line of work with deeper implications than “customer happiness.”
The world is changing which creates both threats and opportunities for those who pay attention. While this truth extends to the individual level, it is born of our nation’s collective strength. I recognize the importance of strong maritime capabilities in sustaining these opportunities.
Like many who aspire to military service, I am attracted to the possibility of seeing the world and the honor of service. Even more, I am drawn by the growth of overcoming hard-fought challenges. As a commissioned Officer I will take personal ownership of leading the execution of those duties assigned to me and treat them for what they are: implicit opportunity for the professional growth of my team and myself.
I am grateful for the opportunity of submitting this application and I appreciate your consideration.
